Biopolymers, including deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”), ribonucleic acid (“RNA”), proteins, polysaccharides, and more complex biopolymers together form the chemical and structural framework for living organisms. Biopolymers serve as a repository for genetic information, catalyze myriad different chemical reactions within organisms, provide many different types of intracellular and intercellular information transmission and communication within organisms, and provide the structural components for cells, organs, and organisms.
During the past century, great strides have been made understanding and learning to manipulate the molecular and cellular biochemical machinery of living organisms. Once the chemical identities and structures of biopolymers were discovered and elaborated, researchers began to chemically synthesize biopolymers and biopolymer fragments to use as tools for research as well as for various types of manufacturing processes. For example, synthesis of oligonucleotides, short DNA and RNA biopolymers having lengths of up to approximately 200 monomer units, provides oligonucleotides of specific sequences that are used to initiate enzyme-catalyzed transcription of DNA, as probes in microarrays and other analytical instruments, for manipulating and controlling gene expression in bacteria and other organisms, and for many other purposes. Similarly, synthesis of peptides, short polymers of amino-acids subunits, provides peptide pharmaceuticals, probes, catalysts, and other useful peptide-based products.
Automated-biopolymer-synthesis systems have been commercially available for many years. Many automated-biopolymer-synthesis systems employ solid substrates, such as polystyrene beads, to which nascent biopolymers are covalently bound and grown by repeating a cycle of monomer-addition reaction steps. The solid substrate allows the reagents used during a reaction step to be easily rinsed from the nascent biopolymers and solid substrate to prepare for a subsequent reaction step.
Unfortunately, currently-available automated-polymer-synthesis systems suffer from a number of inherent inefficiencies and deficiencies, including low throughput and lengthy specialized-component idle periods. Designers and developers of automated-polymer-synthesis systems continue to seek novel designs that address these inefficiencies and deficiencies.